The Political Security Branch in Quneitra detained Hossam Khaled Shamali, a 14-year-old boy whose family lost contact with him while he was travelling from Daraa to Hasakah. His whereabouts remained unknown for an entire week, until a former detainee from the branch revealed that Hossam had been imprisoned alongside him.

Hossam belongs to the Jubour tribe and works on farms in Daraa Governorate. He left on Tuesday, October 13, to visit his family in Hasakah. However, contact with him was lost in Damascus, prompting his mother to search for him and issue an urgent appeal for help.

Activist Ahmad al-Kafri, who published the mother’s appeal last Saturday, revealed that a released detainee had informed them that Hossam was being held at the Political Security Branch in Quneitra.